In recent years, color printers which can implement color matching processes using profiles recommended by ICC (International Color Consortium) (ICC profiles) or the like have prevailed. In such printers, by executing a color matching process corresponding to an object to be drawn, preferable color reproduction can always be realized.
Note that the color matching technique realizes preferable color reproduction in a given device by mutually converting image data between device-independent color spaces and device-dependent color spaces using a profile, which stores color conversion characteristics corresponding to a device that forms a printing system as a file.
An ICC profile required to realize the aforementioned color matching process is often transferred to a remote place via a network such as the Internet or the like. However, since the data structure of the ICC profile is open to the public, internal data or the like may be tampered with when the profile is used via the network or the like, resulting in poor security. In order to provide illegibility to data itself, no optimal measure is available under existing circumstances.